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Canada's secret beach volleyball weapon in Rio: a bikini

Canada's secret beach volleyball weapon in Rio: a bikini

When it came to designing a cutting-edge bikini for the upcoming Rio Games' women's beach volleyballers, it turns out the leap from Lululemon's yoga wear foundation to the Olympic rings is not that much of a stretch at all.

Canadian Volleyball Uniforms
Canadian Volleyball Uniforms

The Vancouver-based company signed a deal last year with Volleyball Canada to outfit the men's and women's national teams, and is endorsing and outfitting a handful of athletes in Rio in other sports as well. The unis were designed and tested over a six-month period with the help of 3D technology, in-studio sessions with those athletes and a "climate simulation chamber" that purports to mimic the sun, sand and sweaty humidity of Rio's Copacabana Beach, site of the beach volleyball competition that begins Aug. 6 for the four Canadian teams that comprise the country's biggest-ever Olympic contingent in the sport.

“The concept behind the design is no distractions,” design director Claire Robertson told reporter Sabrina Maddeaux in the National Post. (In a release, the company noted its line of beach volleyball gear, at prices ranging from $18 to $148, will be available next month online and at some of Lululemon's Canadian stores.)

Beach volleyballer Sarah Pavan in Lululemon's Whitespace R&D space.
Beach volleyballer Sarah Pavan in Lululemon's Whitespace R&D space.

What's equally eye-catching, though, is the pedigree of Tom Waller, who headed up this Olympics assignment for Lululemon's Whitespace R&D team. Previously, Waller led Speedo's Aqualab when they produced the one-piece swimsuits that helped tear up that sport's record book nearly a decade ago no -- so much so that they were subsequently banned.

If these duds have half the impact those ones did, watch out.